We all know that what some people see as junk, others see as treasure and every time we go hunting for vintage goodies at a boot sale, an auction or a collectibles and antiques fair I realise the truth of that cliche.

Recently we stood in front of several tables laden with railway collectibles, scarlet signal finials reaching for the sky, signs, lights and several unidentifiable industrial metal objects and as we looked more closely we spotted a box at the front – a job lot of railway torches and lanterns. Our pulses quickened as we imagined all the possible steampunk style lights we could construct and we agreed a deal with the stall holder.

As we negotiated with the seller another keen buyer began to rummage through the box – “would you like to buy it?” we quipped and yes we sold it on the spot (for a profit) without having even picked the box up.

The alarm bells rang when disappointment set in.

The tension between the desire to transform and give unloved objects a new lease of life and the ability to make a living by buying and selling is always with us.

The brief was to create a Japanese inspired bathroom with a beach hut feel.

The room had to be a functional and tranquil with a bath, a shower and Jack and Jill basins. The room is west facing and “L” shaped and is the main bathroom for the house.

The Japanese influence was inspired by the soaking tub which is a deep square bath that also functions as a shower tray.

We sourced local ash to create a shelf for the basins and cladding for the bath. There is another narrower shelf underneath for towel storage. The wall length mirror is framed with ash and has a colour popped inner edge to the frame.

The wow moment comes when you step into the room and see the window.

We worked with Badger and Hake to create the stained glass panels for the window and the panel in the oak door.

The inspiration for the window came from photographs of draincovers curated by Designmeworld from her @drainspotting Twitter account. Badger and Hake combined a variety of techniques to create the panels, coloured glass is fused to make the border which echoes the square motif of the bath and basins, textured glass is mixed and matched and placed alongside slumped and painted squares.

You step from the heated floor into the bath from a bench step also made from ash. The tiled walls have the sun and sea washed look of a beach hut.

On the side wall there is a three way control for the shower, bath filler and microphone spray head.

An asymetric cupboard made from one of the tiles houses a shaver point and convenient place to keep an electric toothbrush.

We’re starting the countdown to the launch of our online shop, we’ve moved into our new home, we’ve shifted into a new lifestyle we’re enjoying our new environment.

A lot has happened in the last few months as we continue to live our dream and settle in to our new life in sunny Dunbar, East Lothian designing and making knitted home accessories and reclaimed furniture.

Our product lines continue to develop and our best results are produced when we collaborate.

We arrived in a storm, cold and wet we fought our way through rain that came vertically from the sky with dramatic force. The noise of rushing water filled our ears as we went straight from car to front door.

The next morning brought no improvement in the weather the whole day was dark and cold we spent the day indoors tackling painting jobs and rehanging internal doors. It wasn’t until day 2 that we began to appreciate our new setting. In the past Le Moulin milled flour and has a bakehouse beside it where villagers would bake their bread with the flour that was milled.

One of the first jobs on day 2 was to release the board that was stopping the water from flowing from the mill race to the river – the mill race flows down the side of the mill and it was washing bits of the building away. Within a few minutes it was reduced to a trickle exposing a lot of mud and silt. Having moved the board Eric stepped onto the mud to retrieve it – he had measured the depth with a stick and estimated it was no more than ankle deep. As his wet suit boot touched the surface he realised his weight was taking him down – up to his waist!

We leave Dunbar on Friday 12th June with car, trailer, Pika and a sledge to deliver to a good friend living in a hilltop village in Tuscany.

After a stopover with old friends we haven’t seen for ages (great chance to catch up) we head for a night in Folkestone before going through the channel tunnel early on Sunday morning.

Through Trusted Housesitters we have arranged to stay in Le Moulin with Sylvia and Saffi her Staffi. Nestled by a river close to a lake Sylvia’s watermill has a list of jobs that need doing and enough space to put up willing volunteers.

Sunday 14th June to Friday 26th June

We then head to Nice to celebrate Eric’s birthday in the first of three airbnb studios – a brillant and affordable way to see the world and live like a local.

As we travel we will be seeking out brocante and local flea markets to find artefacts and interesting collectibles for Vintage Recycled to work some magic with. On our list is lights, lampshade bases, lettering, small furniture – chairs and benches.

We will be posting on our Facebook page as we go and if you see something that you like let us know and we can earmark it for you and deliver it on our return.

On Monday 29th June we will be wandering round Cours Saleya in Nice looking for a bargain, being inspired and soaking up the atmosphere.

We are almost one month into working in our workshop and so far so good. We have things to sell, we have the begining of a brand and an evolving vision of the retail experience we want to provide for our customers.

Fairisle scarves in Scottish supersoft lambswool

Pika is adjusting to a daily routine of a walk on the beach – we are tweeting a daily weather report to test if Dunbar lives up to its #sunnydunny reputation.

Pika’s weather report

We have a colourful set of business cards.

Combo biz cards

and some great images of our products …….. (thank you Lucy Robertson Designs)